Alpine Gamble (Emma Lord Mysteries) [Kindle Edition]

Mary Daheim (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this seventh Emma Lord adventure, the Alpine Advocate editor copes with her small Washington town's hostility toward California realtors who want to develop the hot springs. The death of of a realtor halts the deal. Vida Runkel, Emma's able home editor, spreads gossippy tales that "breed around this town like mosquitoes in a pond." As in most soap-opera small towns, everyone knows everyone else's doings. Sheriff Milo Dodge is dumber than anything Mayberry had to offer and pigheadedly refuses to veer off the beaten path. Unfortunately, the only surprise in this predictable, mundane book is Emma's interest in him. More interaction with priestly brother Ben and his Indian congregation might have added interest.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

THE ALPINE ADVOCATE IS ON A ROLL.
The big story is the five million dollar luxury spa that Los Angeles real estate developers want to build around Alpine's mountainside mineral springs--hot news and fierce controversy for Advocate readers, and for the paper's editor and publisher, Emma Lord.
Pro-spa Alpiners cite the prospect of sorely needed new jobs. Those against it predict glitz, sleaze, and an avalanche of "Californicators." No one foresees the murder that shocks the town. Aided by her House & Home editor, Vida Runkel, and tongue-tied Sheriff Milo Dodge, Emma lines up her biggest, blackest headlines and goes hunting--for a brilliant killer and the strange story behind an almost perfect crime. . . .
READ ALL ABOUT IT!


From the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 476 KB
• Print Length: 308 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0345396413
• Publisher: Fawcett (December 24, 2008)
• Sold by: Random House Digital, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001OLRMQY
• Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #153,794 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mineral Springs Spa Gets Too Hot, May 14, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Alpine Gamble (Emma Lord Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

With the lumber business almost stopped, Alpine needs some new business to get the citizens employed and revitalize the town.

But that doesn't include business from California. Blake Fannucci and Stan Levine have arrived in Alpine to put together a 5 million dollar luxury spa at Alpine's mineral springs.

It's not much of a mineral spring and it's located on the side of a mountain, but they have already purchased the land from county commissioner, Leonard Hollenberg and it looks like things are going ahead as planned.

Until Stan Levine, winds up dead on the property.

With dozens of suspects, Emma Lord, owner and editor of the local paper, The Alpine Advocate decides Sheriff Milo Dodge needs her help in solving it.

Who wanted him dead? Scott & Beverly Melville, recent arrivals from California. Scott is a architect who won the bid to build the spa and there are rumors about some house he built in California falling down.

Skye Piersall a radical enviornmentalist who is trying to get the project shut down, but did she have a more personal relationship with Stan?

One of the townspeople who are violently opposed to the spa, including Rip Ridley the high school coach who used his speech at the awards banquet to blast Californians coming to town and ruining it. All faithfully recorded and printed by Emma's "star" reporter Carla Steinmetz.

Emma's worried that Milo is over his head and that he isn't looking in the right places. He's reluctant to question Skye Piersall after he discovers that she's a friend and is staying with his on again / off again girlfriend Honoria Whitman.

But Emma manages to get him on track to solve what almost turns out to be a perfect crime.

Highlights:

Milo manages to get another kiss with Emma, unfortunately once again it's right in the middle of him searching for clues. Milo has no sense of the right moment.

Milo's girlfriend, Honoria is trying her best to get him "cultured". I'd love to see Milo at these art gatherings that she's always taking him to.

Emma's newspaper employee's are getting more involved and more interesting in each book. Carla is the worst reporter in the world, if someone says it, she prints it, no off the record stuff for her. And she can't spell anything.

Ginny Burmeister, the office manager is trying to convince Emma to try and convince the city council that a Summer Solstice festival would be more popular than the traditional Lumberama.

Emma is convinced to add personal columns to the paper. First person to find a date - Vida Runkel, 60ish House & Home editor, who is Emma's loyal sidekick on her murder investigations.

Leo Walsh, her new ad manager has sobered up, more or less and has turned out to be a very nice person, a little crude, but he's a newspaper man. He certainly is 100% improvement over Ed Bronsky.

Ed, former ad manager and recent millionaire from an inheritance is still trying to find his place in the world. Since he spent his entire time as ad manager trying to talk people out of buying ad's or not using any kind of color or picture if he didn't have it in his clip art file, he now wants to put some money into the spa, after Stan's death. Of course, before Stan's death he was against having the spa.

Adam, Emma's college aged son is still at the university in Arizona. I think this is a record for him. Now he's thinking of some type of Social work.

No lowlights in the book, except for a subject I promised not to write about again. (See previous reviews).

This book was so enjoyable that it made me start the next book right away and I'm going to review Alpine Hero next.

Great Series.

1.0 out of 5 stars Unreadable due to poor editing, September 13, 2010

By 

mstoaks - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Alpine Gamble (Emma Lord Mysteries) (Kindle Edition)

I got a headache trying to read this Kindle book. Poor editing, hundreds of typos, run together words, strange capital letters added to words, poor spacing, etc. I asked for my money back. The story is probably fine.

4.0 out of 5 stars "Foreign" developers come to Alpine, December 24, 2001

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alpine Gamble (Emma Lord Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

The small town of Alpine, Washington, is in desperate need of development to revitalize its economy. However, when developers from California want to build a multi-million dollar spa there, the fur begins to fly. The locals don't want their land taken over by outsiders and they oppose their fellow citizen's plans to sell a prime plot of land to the developers. The plot thickens when one of the Californians is killed, and suspects are everywhere. Emma Lord, owner and editor of the Alpine Advocate, does her own private sleuthing, staying just ahead of the reliable but unimaginative town sheriff, Milo Dodge, in solving the crime. This is another good "cozy" from consistant author, Mary Daheim.